A retired soldier from Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh was scammed of Rs 98 lakh in a digital arrest scam, officials said, after fraudsters tricked him into believing he was involved in a money-laundering case and then kept him under what they called “digital arrest” for 15 days.
According to the police, the ex-serviceman was contacted by unknown persons who claimed to be officials from the Department of Telecommunications, the CBI, the RBI and the court.
According to reports, the fraudsters falsely informed him that a fake SIM card had been issued in his name and that he was involved in a money laundering case. The fake officials then “falsely accused” the retired soldier of involvement in the fake case and kept him under the so-called “digital arrest” from December 15 to 30, police said.
Digital arrest and fake court proceedings
During this period, the fraudsters staged fake court proceedings via WhatsApp video calls to intimidate and mentally harass him. During this time, the fraudsters created fake court proceedings through video calls and mentally harassed the ex-serviceman. They compelled him to deposit money into various bank accounts.
In one such orchestrated hearing, a bogus judge reportedly told him to “deposit his property and money with the court”, and on their instruction, he transferred funds to multiple accounts they provided, and was ultimately duped of Rs 98 lakh as per reports.
Forced to delete details
The scammers didn’t stop there. It is alleged that the fraudsters threatened him with an alleged arrest warrant, stating that if he disclosed the matter to anyone, he would never be able to get out of the case and could face a sentence of five to seven years. They also forced him to delete call records, messages and other digital evidence from his phone.
Police have registered an FIR at the Cyber Crime Police Station in Mandi, and cyber police are gathering facts. Superintendent of Police (Cyber Crime) Rohit Malpani urged the public to be cautious. “…be vigilant against such calls, video calls, or WhatsApp messages and not to share their bank account details, OTPs, or personal information with anyone under any circumstances and report any suspicious calls immediately to the nearest police station or the cyber helpline.”
